Wrong site surgery is generally defined as an operation or medical procedure performed on the wrong part of the body of a medical patient. Under this definition, there are a number of types of wrong site medical procedures, namely surgeries. For example, surgery performed on the incorrect side of a body of a medical patient, surgery performed on the correct side of the body of a medical patient but at the wrong site (body area), and an incorrect operation performed on the correct side and correct location of the medical patient.
It is estimated that as many as 40 wrong site surgeries occur each week in this country alone, however, there is limited information as to the exact number of such occurrences due to underreporting by doctors and hospitals. Regardless, this is a very serious matter than can have disastrous outcomes including permanent disfigurement or even the death of a medical patient.
As such, there have been numerous attempts to remedy the frequency of these occurrences, but these attempts have resulted in little to no impact on the number of such incidents. One such remedy is to have the medical patient and physician mark the site to be subjected to a medical procedure. Another potential remedy involves thorough checklist(s) with a planned “time out” that occurs before the surgery or medical procedure. In this “time out” period, the name, charts, and surgery site (amongst other variables) of the medical patient are to be reviewed. However, these checklists are often only partially performed or performed incorrectly by the medical professionals.
One major problem plaguing surgical rooms and exacerbating the number of wrong site medical procedures is the lack of a universal standard for prevention of such occurrences. Currently, different medical facilities and establishments follow similar, but not identical guidelines. Further, as mentioned above, there are often breakdowns in these processes. In some instances, time constraints result in rushed or incomplete medical patient assessments and the aforementioned “time outs.” Additionally, similar medical patient names, short hand notation used by hospital staff, and the involvement of multiple individuals all contribute to the lack of cohesion that can result in a wrong site surgery or other medical procedure.
Thus, there is a need for a simple, yet effective, solution to drastically limit or prevent wrong site surgeries. Such a solution should further be cost-effective and relatively simplistic in nature in order to enable any medical facility or establishment to readily implement the changes necessary to meet these needs. The present invention and its embodiments meet and exceed these objectives.